Now in their fifth week on the picket line, Ontario’s 12,000 striking college faculty members are gearing up for a vote that could stop the job action in its tracks.

The College Employer Council – which bargains on behalf of the province’s 24 public colleges – approached Ontario’s Labour Relations Board to bring its final offer to a vote with striking faculty members.

Bypassing the bargaining committee, the council is asking rank-and-file Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) faculty members to weigh in on the deal after talks broke down a week ago.

The electronic vote begins Tuesday at 9 a.m. and will run until Thursday. OPSEU is urging its members to vote against the council's proposal.

Even so, a vote in favour of the settlement would end the strike that's cast more than a half million students out of class, a vote against it could send both sides back to the bargaining table.

Here are some highlights of the council’s final offer:

Wage increases

- 1.75 per cent wage increase in the first year, followed by 2 per cent annual increases for the next three.

- $115,378 maximum salary in place by Oct. 1, 2020

- Improving partial-load faculty – instructors who teach more than six hours but less than 12 per week on a regular basis – salaries by giving them more credit for the months they’ve taught, pushing them through the compensation grid faster than before.